FOOTball with Mat McBriar

Hey guys, FOOTBALL.

It’s time to shake the cobwebs off this sucker. Training camp is here! The Birds’ first preseason game is two weeks from tomorrow! The first Football Sunday is in 46 days! That’s 46 days until I can crank “Fly Eagles Fly” and watch my roommate flap his arms all around our apartment in his pajamas after every touchdown because THAT’S HOW WE DO IT.

Let’s get amped, people, because there’s BIG NEWS on the horizon:

“The Philadelphia Eagles announced Wednesday they have agreed to terms with P Mat McBriar on a one-year contract.”

Oh.

Incumbent punter/less prolific half of the Eagles Flying Hen(e)ry Brothers Chas Henry was pretty terrible last season, ranking in the bottom third of the league in just about every relevant punting statistic and also being awful at throwing the same football he struggled to kick. And while blocked kicks are certainly a team failure as opposed to an individual one, as a punter, it is kind of your fault when you take 37 steps before booting the ball away.

Of course, Henry did outperform McBriar’s numbers last season, so what’s everyone so--

“Finally a neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic nailed it. A cyst was impinging a nerve (in McBriar’s plant foot). McBriar was on the operating table shortly thereafter.”

Ahhhh.

A one year contract for a former Pro Bowl punter who’s been consistently excellent for the past five seasons excluding the one where he had a cyst in his foot sounds just fine to me. Punter isn’t a position you usually “groom” a guy for, and Henry didn’t exactly come in brimming with potential and pedigree, either.

Yes, McBriar’s a former Cowboy, but he’s Australian, so it kind of cancels out. Besides, I hear good things about former Aussie rules football guys who switch between NFC East teams.

Congratulations to Andy and Co. for making us all talk about punting for a day. We’ll get to some fun stuff tomorrow.

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